A runaway winner

Central's Owens dominates sprints, relay

Nikita Owens of Central High School glides to a stop after easily finishing first in the 100-meter dash.

BOB GWALTNEY / Courier & Press
Harrison's Mark Maudlin takes the baton from teammate Der'rik Hardin as he runs the last leg of the boys' 3,200-meter relay Friday evening at Central Stadium. Tell City High School runners Jordan Alvey, left, and Dylan Kleeman are right beside them at the exchange, but Harrison would take first with a time of 8:31.38 while Tell City came in second.

Nikita Owens had already salted away her sprint specialties Friday night at the Evansville Track & Field Invitational when the Central High School junior went for a conditioning gallop in the 1,600-meter relay.

Owens had established potential meet records (with hand-held times) in the 100 and 200 meters when she got the baton for the anchor leg in the final relay, trailing Memorial's Hannah Fritz by 25 meters.

"I've run the four-by-400 all year to help the team," said Owens, a two-time place finisher at state. "But the main reason I do it is to condition for the 200. That's my best race."

Don't tell that to Memorial. Owens' long, measured stride reeled in Fritz by the third turn. Then she passed her between the third and final turn on the track before Owens held off Fritz's charge down the stretch.

The relay win with India Helm, Tyshika Tapp and Taylor Wiley gave Owens three firsts on the night and gave her the edge in the voting for the plaque that goes to the Outstanding Female Runner (OFR).

Owens' final relay win meant Memorial senior Lauren Kohut, who had already won three times with both hurdles races and in the Tigers' 400 relay, had to settle for a second in the final event and OFR voting.

Owens got something else she wanted out of that final race: some needed competition. It's something she hasn't seen in the shorter sprint races the majority of the last two seasons.

She didn't lose last season until the state track meet, where she finished fourth in the 100 and fifth in the 200 after failing to place as a freshman. She has yet to lose a 100 or 200 race this year, too.

"I was a little nervous tonight because I hadn't practiced this week," said Owens. "When you don't lose around here, girls come after you. But the weather was so nice tonight, I was ready to run."

Owens said she missed practice this week because of tryouts for the Honey Bears, Central's dance team, a group she's performed with for three years.

"I was actually more nervous about that," said Owens, who made the team, with a grin. "Now I can concentrate on track. I need to start running with the boys to get ready for the state meet."

"She's fresh and running smooth," said Coffman. "Now she needs to find it inside her, which she can. She just needs to find it in her heart and mind to believe in herself. Then if she works extra hard she can do anything."

The Bears also had the meet's Outstanding Male Runner in sophomore Dyris Haywood, who pulled off an impressive double in winning the 200 and 400. Haywood's hand-held 400 time of 49.78 seconds was also a potential meet record as Central was breaking in new timing equipment at its renovated stadium.

In the field events, the outstanding female performer was Reitz senior Bailey Roeder, who swept the discus and shot put.

On the boys' side, Harrison senior pole vaulter Dennis Samsonov won the outstanding male performer award by breaking the meet record by more than 2 feet with a vault of 15 feet, 1 inch. Harrison senior Kendal Brown was a double winner in the high jump (6-2) and the long jump (21-7).